To decontaminate a construction site after COVID19 exposure, there are several steps the business must complete to ensure workplace health and safety. This process of complete decontamination will require thorough tracing, cleaning, disinfection, and the application of a protective treatment, such as an antimicrobial coating.
Continue to build or shut down? This is the dilemma many companies within the construction industry have recently faced as Coronavirus cases continue to climb. Even if those on the Jobsite have not yet tested positive, dependents and spouses are getting sick, and the timeline of which the disease becomes symptomatic in an individual can take several days. The construction industry has faced many challenges since the global pandemic of COVID-19 infiltrated North America in early 2020. The industry has undergone major changes to ensure the protection of worker health and safety. They have implemented new standards and protocol, enforced social distancing, and temperature checks before admittance. Even with these precautions, no measure is fool-proof, and at some point, a worker on the construction will test positive for COVID-19 How does one decontaminate a construction site that has been exposed to COVID-19?
Infection Timeline and Contact Tracing At The Construction Site.
When a worker tests positive for COVID-19, it is important to be honest with your employees regarding the existence of a positive case. All employees who are in direct contact with the sick individual should be notified. Workers need to be informed that the sick worker was a member of their direct construction team. The infected individual should be sent home to quarantine until they test negative for the virus.
Hopefully, you had already taken all the suggested precautions, such as masks and social distancing, but there is still protocol that needs to be followed. It is important to determine the infection timeline for COVID-19.
The incubation period for COVID-19 is five days before symptoms are present, in symptomatic patients. This amounts to employees having already spent many hours with the infected crewmen before the virus made itself known. Symptoms of COVID-19 are vast and employees need to monitor and be accountable for reporting of suspect cases.
- 96% of symptomatic patients reported fever, cough, or chills. 68% of hospitalized patients, and 31% of non-hospitalized patients, reported all three of these symptoms.
- Oher symptoms associated include gastrointestinal discomfort, headache, and fatigue.
- Symptoms can vary greatly amongst those diagnosed with COVID19 as research pertaining to the virus is ongoing.
Contact tracing needs to be performed, and anyone who has had close contact with the sick individual should be tested. It should be noted that there are various individuals and areas of work within the industry that could be affected by the virus. Workers on a construction site can include:
- General Laborers
- Engineers
- Architects
- Project Managers
- Contractors
- City or State Inspectors
Continuing to perform daily symptoms checks, require reporting of exposure outside of the work environment, including one’s spouse and dependents, and complete sanitation of the work environment is necessary to limit the spread of the virus once the site has been exposed to COVID-19.
Identify Contaminated Areas and Equipment
The first course of action in decontamination identifying all potential areas of contamination. This should include any area that that is frequented by an infected individual and those who have had contact with the sick worker. Depending on the size of your construction company, this may include the entire construction site. All break areas, offices, construction equipment, railings, stairs, and machinery is at risk of contamination. These areas and equipment could include, but are not limited to:
- Portable Toilets
- Trailers
- Excavators
- Loaders
- Rigs
- Dump Trucks
- Leveling Machines
- Cranes
- Forklifts
- Concrete Mixer Trucks
- Lifts/ Platforms
- Handheld Measurement Devices such as conductivity meters, levels, laser trackers, laser scanners, receivers, and analyzers.
All of this equipment must be properly and thoroughly cleaned, disinfected, sanitized, and applied with an antimicrobial coating before it is safe for construction workers to continue operations.
Identify The Best Method For Decontamination
Cleaning and Disinfection
Cleaning the construction site is the next step in combating and prevent a COVID-19 outbreak on the construction site. A construction site is a high dirt work environment, making cleaning a difficult and exhausting endeavor. Although cleaning does not kill COVID-19, it is a necessary step in order to remove all dirt and contaminants and reduce the number of germs on the surfaces so disinfection will be effective. After cleaning all equipment surfaces and frequented areas, these surfaces must be disinfected. Disinfection will kill COVID-19. Be sure to use an approved disinfectant as approved by the Canada’s Health Government agencies.
Don’t forget less obvious locations that are notorious for harboring germs. Sink faucet handles and coffee makers are a staple in the workday of many laborers but are known for high levels of illness-causing microorganisms.
Implement Additional Measures Of Protection
Workplace health and safety measures are of vital importance, now more than ever. It is important to implement other areas of protection on your construction site during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mobile sanitation and handwashing stations should be placed throughout the construction site for convenience.
Implement additional workplace measures as suggested by the provincial/state and federal governments, including suitable masks, distancing, and document the comings and goings of staff when irregular shifts are common. All cleaning and disinfection are important steps in decontaminating your construction site, these measures alone will not protect your workers.
An important additional step to consider is incorporating an antimicrobial coating as a final step after disinfection. This additional step leaves a lasting protective coating that reduces the spread of surface pathogens from employee to employee to customer. Cleaning and sanitization prepare the surfaces for the disinfectant and antimicrobial coating. But alone, traditional cleaning and sanitation only protect surfaces until germs again contact the equipment and surfaces.
Call in Professional Services
Contact Select Shield for Antimicrobial Services to protect your construction sites. Our solution can be applied to nearly every surface on your construction site. We will disinfect key target areas of your construction site. Then apply an antimicrobial coating to all surfaces using an electrostatic sprayer. It is vital to have antimicrobial coatings applied after a COVID-19 case because the incubation period for the virus takes days before symptoms appear.
How Can an Antimicrobial Treatment Be Beneficial to Construction Site Sanitation?
Construction sites are notorious for dirty work environments. How do you keep a filthy environment like a construction site sanitized and safe for employees during a viral pandemic?
Machinery
Select Shield’s antimicrobial treatment can be applied to all of the aforementioned machinery. Operational handles, equipment seating, cranes, and any other applicable equipment.
Construction Site Trailers/Staff Areas
Oftentimes, construction sites project managers operating out of mobile trailers or other cabin spaces. An antimicrobial treatment would protect those who visit the site including city workers, engineers, and project managers.
Is Select Shield Antimicrobial Coating Effective Against COVID-19?
After thorough cleaning and disinfection, antimicrobial coatings are applied to all surfaces at the site. Select Shield antimicrobial treatment is the only product and service that offers long term protection against COVID-19. Using a silane quaternary ammonium chloride, Select Shield prevents germs and viruses from spreading on a surface to another person. Not only will our antimicrobial coating reduce the potential of spreading the viruses related to the disease COVID-19, it will also protect workers against numerous other threats. These other pathogens include as germs, bacteria, fungi, mold, protozoa, and other viruses.
Why Choose Select Shield for Antimicrobial Coating on Construction Sites?
Select Shield is a unique product and service, that has protected countless individuals, across various industries.
- Schedule an appointment with our Select Shield team of qualified technicians. We will visit your construction site at your earliest convenience. We can perform our services anytime outside of your crew work hours.
- We will perform microbe testing in several areas, and on numerous construction machinery to determine the levels of microorganisms that are present. During this site inspection, we will gather all information necessary for our services to be completed.
- We will then ensure that all surfaces have been cleaned and sanitized thoroughly.
- Using an electrostatic sprayer, we will apply disinfectant to all equipment and employee areas. This 360-degree sprayer will ensure that even hard-to-reach areas are properly sanitized.
- After the disinfectant dries, we will then use the electrostatic sprayer to apply the antimicrobial coating to all equipment and frequented areas. This solution contains positively charged particles that literally cling to surfaces.
- Your equipment and construction site areas will almost immediately be safe for operation.
- Your account manager will contact you after the procedure to schedule follow-up site testing and to suggest a timeline for the need of future applications.
Our product is also odourless, waterproof, non-toxic, and hypoallergenic. One application of our antimicrobial coating can offer protection on surfaces for up 10-15 days.
Contact Select Shield Today for Construction Site Decontamination
If you will soon begin your building project or are already in the middle of a project, speak to us to learn more. It is our responsibility to ensure that all employees are protected against this deadly virus.
Call Select Shield today for immediate assistance. Or send us an email and we will respond within 24 hours. We look forward to serving your construction site and aiding in the protection of our workers against COVID19.
